MATTHEW 13:24-43
IF YOU HAVE A GREEN
THUMB, YOU PROBABLY ARE LIKE MY WIFE, WHO REALLY DISLIKES WEEDS. IF
YOU DON'T HAVE A GREEN THUMB, YOU ARE MORE LIKE ME, WHO FEELS THAT
WEEDS HAVEN'T BOTHERED ME, SO I WON'T BOTHER THEM. MANY YEARS AGO
ONE OF OUR DAUGHTERS WHO PROBABLY TAKES AFTER ME MORE THAN MY WIFE,
WAS ASKED TO GO OUT AND WEED. WHEN SHE GOT THROUGH, THE AREA WHICH
HAD BEEN WEEDED WAS ALMOST COMPLETELY DEVOID OF PLANTS OF ANY KIND;
IT LOOKED LIKE A DESERT. NEEDLESS TO SAY, SHE HASN'T BEEN ASKED TO
WEED SINCE THEN.
SO WHAT IS A WEED? IF
YOU LOOK AT A COMMON WEED, THE DANDELION, IT ISN'T A WEED TO A LITTLE
KID, WHO LIKES TO BLOW THE SEEDS OFF AND WATCH THEM FLY AWAY. IT
ISN'T A WEED TO SOMEONE WHO HAPPILY SPENDS HOURS PICKING OFF THE
FLOWER PETALS TO MAKE DANDELION WINE. BUT IT IS A WEED TO SOMEONE
WHO LIKES A CARPET-LIKE LAWN. WE COULD PROBABLY DEFINE A WEED AS A
PLANT THAT I DON'T HAVE A USE FOR.
NOTICE TODAY THAT JESUS
COMPARES THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN TO THREE THINGS – A MAN WHO SOWS
WHEAT IN A FIELD, A MUSTARD SEED, AND YEAST. WE CAN SORT OF GRASP
THE MUSTARD SEED AND THE YEAST; JESUS IS ILLUSTRATING THE POINT THAT
THE KINGDOM SPREADS AND GROWS AND IN THE CASE OF THE YEAST,
INFLUENCES EVERYTHING AROUND IT. BUT WHAT DO WE MAKE OF THE MAN WHO
SOWS WHEAT IN A FIELD? JESUS LATER GOES ONTO EXPLAIN THAT HE IS THAT
MAN. HE IS THE EMBODIMENT, THE BEGINNING, THE SEED FROM WHICH THE
KINGDOM OF GOD WILL ARISE. AND THE KINGDOM SPRINGS FROM THE SEED
THAT HE SOWS.
SO LET US LOOK AT THAT
KINGDOM. FIRST, THE PARABLE TELLS US THAT THERE WILL NEVER BE A TIME,
UNTIL THE VERY END, WHEN THE WHEAT AND THE WEEDS WILL NOT BE MINGLED
TOGETHER. WHEN I WAS A LITTLE KID GOING TO CATHOLIC SCHOOLS, MY
TEACHERS ASSURED US THAT SOMEDAY THE WHOLE WORLD WOULD BE CATHOLIC.
EVERYONE WOULD HAVE FINALLY REALIZED THAT THIS WAS THE ONE TRUE
FAITH. THAT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH THAT STOOD ACROSS THE STREET FROM
OUR SCHOOL WOULD BE ANOTHER OUTPOST OF OUR CHURCH. BUT JESUS SEEMS
TO BE SAYING SOMETHING DIFFERENT HERE. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE WEEDS,
THERE WILL ALWAYS BE PEOPLE WHO ARE BUILDING THEIR LIVES ON THE WORDS
OF CHRIST, AND PEOPLE WHO AREN'T. HOW THIS IS GOING TO BE RESOLVED
AT THE END OF TIME IS A QUESTION THAT WILL NOT BE ANSWERED UNTIL
THEN. BUT RIGHT NOW AND FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES, WHEAT AND WEEDS
WILL MINGLE. AND I'M NOT SAYING PRESBYTERIANS ARE LIKE WEEDS.
SECOND, PARABLE TELLS US
SOMETHING ELSE THAT'S PRETTY IMPORTANT. THE WEEDS THAT WERE SOWN IN
THE FARMER'S FIELD REALLY LOOKED A LOT LIKE WHEAT. IN FACT, ONE OF
THE REASONS YOU HAD TO WAIT BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT WAS
BECAUSE OF THIS FACT. NOT EVEN A REALLY GOOD FARMER COULD TELL UNTIL
THE END OF THE GROWING SEASON WHAT WAS WHEAT AND WHAT WAS DARNEL, THE
IMITATION WHEAT WHOSE SEEDS MADE PEOPLE SICK. THAT HAS SERIOUS
IMPLICATIONS WITH HOW WE DEAL WITH EACH OTHER. YOU MAY LOOK LIKE A
WEED TO ME, BUT THERE'S NO WAY I CAN KNOW; WE ARE STILL GROWING, WE
ARE STILL IN THE PROCESS OF DEFINING OURSELVES. AND SINCE I DON'T
EVEN KNOW MY OWN FUTURE, I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF I AM DESTINED TO BE A
WEED THROUGH SOME FUTURE CHANGE OF HEART, I CAN'T JUDGE YOU OR EVEN
MYSELF. ALL I CAN DO IS TRY TO LOOK AT YOU KNOWING ONE THING –
WHILE YOU ARE HERE ON EARTH, GOD LOVES YOU ENOUGH TO DIE FOR YOU.
AND IF THAT'S THE CASE, AM I NOT CALLED TO LOVE YOU AS WELL? WHEAT
OR WEEDS?
THE THIRD QUALITY OF THE
KINGDOM IS PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT. IN THE BOOK, “REBUILT”,
WHICH IS THE STORY OF THE REVIVAL OF A DYING PARISH AND HOW THAT WAS
ACHIEVED, THE AUTHORS, WHO WENT ALL OVER THE COUNTRY TRYING TO LEARN
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUCCESSFUL FAITH COMMUNITIES AND THOSE WHICH
WERE NOT, CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT IN EVERY SUCH COMMUNITY,
CATHOLIC, PROTESTANT, OR JEWISH, THERE SEEMED TO BE TWO KINDS OF
PEOPLE. THEY LABELED ONE GROUP “CONSUMERS”. THESE WERE THE
PEOPLE WHO CAME TO CHURCH WANTING TO BE FED. THEY WANTED GREAT
MUSIC, AN INSPIRING SERMON, BREVITY, OF COURSE, AND EASY PARKING.
THE NEW BABIES WERE BROUGHT FOR BAPTISM, AT THE CONVENIENCE OF THE
PARENTS, OF COURSE, TO ACCOMMODATE THE POST BAPTISMAL PARTY. THE
CHILDREN WERE DUTIFULLY EDUCATED UNTIL THEY ACHIEVED THEIR
CONFIRMATION, OR BAR MITZVAH, AND THEN THAT WAS IT. CONSUMERS WHO
WERE NOT HAPPY WITH THEIR FAITH COMMUNITY READILY DROPPED OUT, OR
PERHAPS SOUGHT ANOTHER COMMUNITY. THE OTHER GROUP WERE LABELED
“DISCIPLES”. THESE PEOPLE SAW UNDERSTOOD THAT THE COMMUNITY WAS
THERE TO HELP THEM BECOME MORE LIKE THE PERSON GOD WAS CALLING THEM
TO BE; THEY CAME TO SERVICES LISTENING, KNOWING THAT GOD WOULD ALWAYS
HAVE A WORD JUST FOR THEM. THEY HAD A PRAYER LIFE OUTSIDE THE
CHURCH; JUST AS THEY WERE TRYING TO BE DISCIPLES, THEY RAISED THEIR
CHILDREN TO BE DISCIPLES. AND AS PART OF THEIR GROWTH, THEY GAVE
PART OF THEMSELVES TO THE COMMUNITY – IN SERVICE, IN MONETARY
CONTRIBUTIONS – BECAUSE THEY REALIZED THAT THE SURVIVAL AND HEALTH
OF THE COMMUNITY WAS INTEGRAL TO THEIR OWN DISCIPLESHIP.
THERE IS A SIMPLE WAY TO
TELL THE SEED THAT THE SOWER SOWS – IT'S THE SEED THAT BEARS FRUIT.
ALL THE REST IS WEED, WHICH AT THE END OF TIME WILL BE GATHERED UP
AND CAST INTO THE FIRE – ALL THAT GROWTH, ALL THAT GREENERY, JUST
BUNDLED UP AND BURNED. THE WEEDS HAVE NOTHING TO SHOW FOR THEIR TIME
ON EARTH. THE WHEAT, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS VALUED BY THE SOWER, WHO
GATHERS IT UP AND STORES IT IN HIS BARNS. AND WE KNOW THAT WHILE A
LOT OF THE WHEAT WILL GO INTO MAKING BREAD TO REDUCE HUNGER AND
PROVIDE NOURISHMENT, GOOD THINGS IN THEMSELVES, SOME OF THE SEED WILL
BE SET ASIDE TO BEGIN THE PROCESS ALL OVER AGAIN DURING THE NEXT
GROWING SEASON. TO BE WHEAT IS TO HAVE PURPOSE, TO BE TREASURED, AND
TO BE IMMORTAL.
IN JESUS' PARABLE, A SEED
SOWN CANNOT CHANGE IT'S NATURE; IF IT IS THE SEED OF A WEED, IT WILL
BE A WEED. BUT FOR US THERE IS ALWAYS THE OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME
WHEAT, TO BE DISCIPLES, TO BEAR FRUIT.
SO TODAY LET US PRAY THAT
GOD WILL GIVE US THE GRACE TO BE WHEAT.
